NOTE: Claudia and I wish to thank you for your prayers and kind and heartfelt messages of condolences after the passing of my sister Caroline. Nothing prepares one for this kind of loss. But God used it for good, and Caroline is safe and healed in His everlasting arms. There is no better ending to any story than that!
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.” Ps 116:15
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Please also be sure and not miss the Christmas note of thanks from our student in the Holy Land at the end of this Report.
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The 2025 Thanksgiving turkey wasn’t even cold in the fridge yet when Claudia and I were out shopping and heard the stirring strains of the Christmas classic “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” The problem with a song like this is that it follows the precept of “The Worst Music Ever Made Law.” It sticks in your brain like taffy on a dental crown. You just have to let it wear off because trying to get rid of it can make the problem infinitely worse.
Thanksmas, by the way, is that short but insane time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It must be a thing because, while I thought I just made it up, spellcheck let it go, so it’s not original – and I don’t care where it came from enough to go out and do the research. But it’s worth a couple of minutes for any Templar to consider a few things about Thanksmas.
Thanksmas encompasses Prime Week, Black Friday weekend, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday, and so forth. It grinds on until late December when the real crunch begins – on the evening of 23 December for men shoppers. At this point, it is truly not safe to go out to any retail outlets unless you wish to leave this world wearing a 72” flat-screen necklace.
Just a passing glance at American culture leads to the invariable conclusion that our holidays are all about cash flow. While we frame them around thanks, giving, and Christ worship (the meaning of the word Christmas), our merchant-powered society reveals the real supremacy that actually drives us.
That is not a criticism, by the way. It is actually proof that we are a free culture because we allow cash flow to define us rather than a tyrannical God-less narrative, which is the only other choice, as history has shown us time and again.
When you and I looked in the mirror this morning, we saw a Templar (I hope). We also saw a husband, wife, dad, mom, grandmother, granddad, brother, sister, friend, and neighbor. Here we are nearing the middle of Thanksmas season, all riding together in our marvelous culture, powered by the sometimes flawed merchant class, led by the occasionally flawed political class, and typically misinformed by the narrative-driven media class. But it is who we are as a people. It is who we have evolved into from the very first days of our Republic, now nearing our two-and-a-half-century birthday. Sometimes it ain’t pretty—but it is always gloriously wonderful!
So today, between giving thanks and worshiping Jesus, I sincerely, from the deepest part of my heart and soul, am thankful for living in this culture in the land of the truly free. I am likewise eager to worship today, and every day, the Christ Who has made me absolutely and authentically free indeed. “So if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”(John 8:36)
Today, I also obediently rejoice in all things (1 Thes 5:16)—even in a country where “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” can become a classic and make the most jaded bah-humbug-Grinch-citizen secretly smile… every – single – year.
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A Letter of Thanks from our Student in the Holy Land
Episcopal Technological and Vocational Training Center, Ramallah, West Bank
Dear Temple Church,
Thank you for your generosity and for always being there for us. Your support inspires me to continue growing. Wishing you a blessed Merry Christmas!
— Tamer Abuezam